Addendum: had lot of trouble with the Bluetooth connection. Any attempt to establish a connection left the software (max msp, arduino, pure data, coolterm, zterm, etc.) hung/freeze. The solution:
go to HD/Developer/Applications/Bluetooth/Bluetooth Explorer.app. Go to the Utilities and chose Modify Device and Software Configuration, tick all boxes and click on Perform. Apparently this erases the BT settings. After the reboot everything worked fine.
Also, purchased a Roving Networks RN-42. Without the breakout board it costs third of the Bluesmirf and does the job well.